Jose Mourinho believes Gareth Bale is 'better than ever' after shining in Burnley win

Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho believes winger Gareth Bale is in the form of his life after the Welshman was the star of the show in Sunday's 4-0 mauling of Burnley.

Bale opened the scoring after just 68 seconds - his fastest Premier League goal ever - and he added another goal and an assist before being withdrawn after 70 minutes, putting on his finest display since returning to Spurs last summer.

Well, according to Mourinho, this may have actually been Bale's best performance in a Spurs shirt hands-down.

"Sometimes people write things, and sometimes, some of you like to imagine stories, you need to write stories and sometimes you like to say things that are not really true but there is not one single manager in the world that doesn't play Gareth Bale if Gareth Bale is in very good condition," he said.

"There is not one, but now he is better than ever. It's not just about the two goals he scored, it's fundamentally about his physical performance. Now he's not flat. Now he has ups and downs in the speed he brings to his actions. Even in the area in which he plays, sometimes outside, sometimes inside. He played very well and his condition is very good.

"I'm just pleased for the team because he helped the team to win and that's the most important thing. I'm happy for him."

To say Bale is better now than ever before might be a little bit of a stretch, but there's no denying that the 31-year-old is shining brighter than he has in a long time. He now has eight goals and three assists in 20 appearances for Spurs, more than he managed over the entirety of last season with Real Madrid.

Mourinho admitted that his decision to withdraw Bale was purely precautionary, confessing that the Welshman's health needs to be managed if Spurs are to continue to get the best out of him.

"Day after day, day after day, and as I was saying, he is experienced and his knowledge of his body and his feelings are going to be fundamental," Mourinho continued.

"A player that gives me this kind of performance of course I want to play him on Thursday and on Sunday, and I want to play him next week against Dinamo Zagreb but I don't think I can.

"So this is a process that we have to manage day by day and see how he feels tomorrow and see how he feels after tomorrow. He's a very important part of this decision-making because he has a lot of experience."

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